The Price We Pay
by X.xMay-Babyeex.X
Summary: Blood and Pain. Tear and Sweat. Sorrow and Fear. Love and Hate. Its what every tribute paid when thrown into the Games. Each tribute knew the price they would pay. The price they all paid for the Capitol's entertainment...


**The Price We Pay**

_Days rolled on, _

_Shout it out loud,_

_Days rolled on, _

_We know the price we pay. _

_The Price We Pay, A Day To Remember _

Blood. I could taste it in my mouth and feel its sticky warmth coating my body. The pain had dulled hours ago, but I could still feel the burn of it. As my body ached, I couldn't help the moans of pain that escaped from my cracked and bloodied lips.

I couldn't move my body; I was too numb, my mind swimming with too much pain. Even when my eyes were closed, I couldn't escape the reality of the nightmare that currently surrounded me. I moaned again, a name latching onto my thoughts. The name was all too familiar.

Her face filled my mind and I could easily see her blonde hair, the way it caught the light, highlighting the natural golden streaks. I could still remember the tears that had formed in her blue eyes at the reaping, despite her trying to hide them with anger. The day we first met was on constant replay in my mind…

_I looked over at the new recruits as they walked into the training room. They looked so weak that I knew I could easily snap them like twigs if they got in my way. I continued __hitting__ the punching bag as I watched them._

_Most of them would've __been__ half my size. I could see fear in their eyes and couldn't help the smirk that formed across my face. I turned away from them when I heard someone approaching me from behind. I whirled around to see the familiar face of my friend Clove._

"_Checking out the new recruits?" She smirked, looking over to the group. _

_"They look like they're asking to get their __asses__ kicked." I replied with a shrug, punching the bag again._

_"They look so scared. I suppose they should be, especially if they get on an older students bad side." Clove commented. _

_"Got that right." I nodded in agreement. _

_"One of them is watching you." She smirked, indicating the slim girl with blonde hair. _

_She had tan skin and was taller than most of the others. She looked away when I __glanced__ over at her, but not before her blue eyes had connected with my own. Her eyes were the only ones that hadn't shown fear, which made me wonder why. _

_"She catch your eye?" Clove joked, flinching when I smacked the punching bag suddenly and harshly causing it to swing until I caught it and steadied it. _

_"You should go train." I told her, continuing to slam my fists into the punching bag. _

_"And you should go say hi." She whispered in my ear before walking off. _

_I shook my head, feeling the sweat running down my face come off in small droplets. I ignored the group when they came over to see what we were doing, mainly __practising__ our hand-to-hand combat, personally I was more a sword kind of guy. The trainers were droning on about something and I felt a pair of eyes staring into my back, making me turn around._

_My blue eyes connected with her own, the same girl who had shown no fear in her eyes, the one who had been looking at me earlier. I smirked as I noticed her taking in my appearance. She turned away at the same time I did, only I went on with punching the bag, still feeling her eyes boring hole into my back. _

_After training she had come over, her blonde hair tied back out of her face. She had remarkably tan skin, suggesting she had already had an olive complexion before being exposed to the sun. I raked a hand through my hand as she came to stand in front of me. What the hell was I meant to say to a chick I didn't even know?_

"_Can I help you?" I asked her, turning to properly face her rather than looking at her side on. _

"_I noticed you punching the bag earlier. You've got a mean swing." She stated, crossing her arms over her chest._

"_I know." I smirked, turning my back to her again._

"_I'm Alison, by the way." She told me, not that I actually cared._

"_Cato." I responded, shaking the hand she offered me._

Another cough wracked through my body, causing the pain in my chest to flare up again. All that I was aware of was pain. I couldn't escape its clutches no matter how I hard I tried. They'd never prepared us for this in training. It was like I could feel the claws of the muttations that were around me still tearing into my flesh.

I knew they weren't really attacking me. They'd stopped a while ago, but even then the pain hadn't subsided. It wasn't like when you cut yourself and it stings for a bit before dulling to a throb, it was still white hot and burning through my tired body.

I couldn't move, no matter how hard I tried. I could see her in front of me and I wanted to go to her, but I couldn't move. It was like an invisible force was holding me to the ground where I lay in a pool of my own blood. No matter what I thought of, her face stayed in my mind. I could imagine the way she felt against my body as we hugged, or how her lips were soft against my own when we kissed. I was happy for the release of the memories from the pain.

"_Where are we going?" Ali asked, laughing, as I dragged her along behind me. _

"_It's a surprise." I grinned, continuing my journey through the streets of District 2. _

"_I hate surprises." She grumbled, rolling her eyes. _

_I shook my head and pulled her down an alleyway. It wasn't until we reached the small little park that I had found the other day. I walked over to one of the trees, sitting beneath its long branches that covered us from the sun. It was a warm day, a pleasant one. _

_As Ali sat beside me, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She smiles and leant against my chest, moving so she was sitting between my outstretched legs. Her hair fell across her face, as she played with one of my hands in her smaller ones, turning it over, tracing the various scars I had gotten from sparring where my opponents sword had grazed my sword hand. _

"_So, is this the surprise?" Ali asked, looking up at me with her sparkling blue eyes._

"_Yeah, why?" I answered, raising an eyebrow._

"_Not much of a surprise." She smirked, poking me in the ribs._

"_Oh, really?" I question before leaning in and kissing her._

_She kissed back immediately and I had to stop myself from pulling back and making a comment. Her lips were soft against my own and it felt… nice to kiss her. I'd __be __lying if I said I hadn't wanted to for a while, but I thought it'd be more romantic or something._

"_Surprise." I whispered against her lips when I pulled back._

_She just looked at me, her blue eyes __critical__. I was worried now. I knew that look. That was the look she got before she kicked someone's ass in training. I had the urge to move away but before I could I was pressed into the tree, her lips on mine again._

_Her hands wound themselves in my hair as she moved so she was straddling my lap. I ran my hands up her back, pulling her flush against my body. We continued to make out until the sun eventually grew cold and began to set. _

I managed to smile at the memory. I knew she'd be watching. I knew she'd be almost jumping on her lounge, willing me to move, to get up and stop letting the pain get to me. I coughed again, the metallic taste of blood still filling my mouth.

I silently willed her to stop watching. I didn't want her to see me die. I still remembered what she said to me the day of the reaping and I wish I could've stuck to the promise that I made her.

_I watched as Ali walked into the small room I was being held in. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears and her face was a mask of anger. She knew that I'd been chosen to volunteer this year, that I'd been training my whole life. I couldn't understand why she was so angry. This was my duty to my district._

"_Ali, I'm sorry." I apologized, walking over to her and wrapping my arms around her. _

_She pulled away, her hands gripping my biceps, her eyes hard. "Don't be sorry, Cato. You're going to win this. I know you are. You're going to come home." _

"_I know." I told her, kissing her._

"_Promise me you'll come back." She whispered to me when we pulled back._

"_I promise." I whispered back, tucking a strand of her soft blonde hair behind her ear._

_She nodded before kissing me again. It was hard and filled with raw passion as she pressed herself close to me. It wasn't like the first time we kissed when it was soft and hesitant. This held a fire to it that burned throughout my whole body. I had to win for her. I would win._

I moved my head ever so slightly, my gaze landing on the girl from 12. She had an arrow trained on me and I knew what she was going to do, not that it mattered. I was dead anyway.

A sharp pain emanated from my head before darkness crashed over me. I wasn't going home and I would never see Ali again. That was the price we paid for the entertainment of the Capitol. A price that was paid with blood and death.

**A/N Thanks for reading guys and girls :) Big thanks to my Beta Maddie Rose. I planned this as a one-shot but if you like it I may continue :) **

**xx May 3 :) **


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